


Mila Squared

by Bored_Trekkie



Series: Gather Ye Rosebuds [1]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Gen, Just In Time Fest, Kid Fic, M/M, Time Travel, set late season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:21:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29284452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bored_Trekkie/pseuds/Bored_Trekkie
Summary: While watching his daughter, Garak gets a long-awaited call.(written for the Just In Time Fest)
Relationships: Elim Garak & Mila Garak, Julian Bashir/Elim Garak
Series: Gather Ye Rosebuds [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2150577
Comments: 14
Kudos: 36
Collections: Star Trek: Just in Time Fest





	Mila Squared

**Author's Note:**

> This was super fun to do! This will eventually be a part of a larger work, but works well alone and I thought it was too fun to not submit it to this awesome collection!

The chime of an incoming video message reverberated around Garak’s quarters. 

“Yadik! It’s her!” 

A young half-Cardassian girl bounced on the couch where Garak had been reading. The man in question put down his padd and smiled at the girl, who had started tugging at his sleeves.

“Give me a second! My old bones can’t take as much as yours.” He let out an exaggerated groan as he stood up, getting an unimpressed glare in return. 

Sitting down in front of the console, Garak pulled the child onto his lap and accepted the call. The screen blinked on, revealing an older Cardassian woman, her grey hair neatly pinned up and her clothes pressed. 

“Mila.” Garak nodded at her.

“Ah, Elim,” Mila cut off any chance for him to continue, “You wanted to talk to me?”

The girl in his lap was rocking slightly, a grin stretching her face. Taking notice of her, the older woman smiled kindly.

“And who might you be, my dear?”

“Mila,” she blushed, looking down and flapping her hands nervously. 

“What a beautiful name,” with a smirk, the older Mila looked back at Garak, “and when were you going to tell me you got yourself a kid?”

Garak had just opened his mouth when he was cut off again.

“Ah, nevermind, that doesn’t matter as much as to her parentage. She certainly has your ridges.”

The girl gave a small chirp, rocking a bit faster and blushing again.

“If you would let me talk, I could explain everything to you,” Garak sighed. Mila waved him on impatiently.

With that, Garak launched into the story of the younger Mila’s appearance on DS9. With a few interjections from both Milas, one for clarification (“Yes, 20 years in the future.”) and the other for more questions (“Dr. Bashir… isn’t he the one who came here to meet with Tain that one time?”), the elderly woman was caught up on recent events. 

The door chime interrupted the newest line of questioning, giving Garak the opportunity to bow out of the increasingly uncomfortable conversation. He sat the child on the seat, kissing her head before excusing himself to attend to whatever uninvited guest had arrived. He straightened his shirt before opening the door to-

“Julian?”

“Hi, Garak. I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” He bounced on his heels, looking past Garak to where he could hear Mila’s excited rambling.

Garak was pleasantly surprised to see the doctor, as there had been a medical emergency taking up most of the day and he didn't expect Julian to have the energy for their dinner plans. 

“Nothing of importance. Do come inside,” Garak stepped aside, waving the doctor through.

“Is that your mother?”

Garak was not able to hide his surprise quick enough, causing Julian’s grin to grow. 

“Yes. Mila wanted to meet her and…” he broke off, looking around before continuing quietly, “and I may have also… wanted them to meet…”

Julian’s grin softened and he surprised Garak yet again (he wondered when that had become a theme) by pulling him into a hug. He basked in the warmth and comfort for as long as socially acceptable before untangling himself, leaving him with nothing to do but stare at his companion. Their moment was broken by an excited little voice.

“Daddy! Come say hi!” 

Julian smiled back at the girl. He pulled a slightly reluctant Garak along by his sleeve, settling himself behind the chair.

“Ms Mila, wonderful to see you again.”

“Oh, you flatterer! It’s just Mila,” She smiled, obviously pleased, before turning her attention to Garak. “And when were you going to inform me of your change in relationship status?”

Both men were left stuttering and, in Julian’s case, blushing; looking anywhere but at one another. Mila laughed in her chair, poking Julian’s warm cheek and giggling more when his blush darkened.

“We haven’t really talked about it ms- I mean Mila,” Garak shot Julian a betrayed look while Mila tutted at them from the screen.

“Well, you two have-- or will have, I should say-- a lovely daughter. Now, I have things to do, but I wish you luck on finding your way home, itzik.”

“Bye a’yad’!” The younger Mila bounced excitedly as the adults exchanged nods.

The viewscreen blinked off, and Mila visibly deflated a bit. Taking a deep breath, Garak calmed himself. He picked up his daughter (and wasn’t that still hard to believe!), depositing her at the dinner table, trusting Julian to follow suit.

“Now, my dears, what would you like to eat?”

With food on the table, his two companions set about an unspoken contest to be the first done. Suppressing another sigh, Garak set down the final dish, a bowl of ikri buns, and began his dinner at a much more reasonable pace. 

Neither of them commented when Mila ended up eating half the bowl of buns by herself.

Julian took over cleaning up, refusing Garak’s protests as he lightly shoved him towards the couch where Mila had pulled out her drawing supplies. Garak smiled as he watched her work, happiness bubbling up inside him at her carefree nature, despite all that she had told them about the future state of Cardassia. He didn’t look away even when Julian joined him on the couch, only startling when the doctor shyly took his hand. The two men shared a private smile.

It really was very domestic, Garak thought to himself as the night went on. Mila had long ago finished her first drawing and was now attempting to stack cards in an intricate formation, while Julian had rearranged himself so he could lean against Garak and read his padd comfortably.

Soon enough, it had to end. Garak had seen Mila hide too many yawns. 

“Up you get, my dear,” He herded the girl into the bathroom while Julian stretched and put the art supplies to one side of the table. 

Seeing she was nearly done, Garak went to go check on his- no, _the_ doctor.

“I set up the couch for myself, if you don’t mind me staying,” Julian shuffled his feet nervously. There was a thin blanket laid across the couch and an extra pillow set at the head. Garak looked at it in horror.

“My dear, I could not in good conscience allow you to sleep like that,” He held up his hands to cut Julian’s protests off. “If you really insist upon spending the night, you can join me in my bed.”

Julian flushed, but nodded, sending a sense of deep satisfaction through Garak. Julian insisted on replicating pajamas, much to his host’s amusement. In truth, he thought, he didn’t know if he would survive seeing Julian in his borrowed clothes. They would definitely swamp the younger man, showing off his collarbones- Garak mentally slapped himself. Now was not the time to indulge in such fantasies.

By the time he got out of the bathroom, Garak found Mila already tucked into her nest by his bed (she had insisted, saying it was just like a sleepover and more comfortable than a cot) and being read a Cardassian fairytale by Julian. Sitting on the bed, he was once again struck by the domesticity of the night, and felt an unfamiliar longing. Before he had identified it, he felt the bed dip.

“Goodnight Garak,” Julian settled under the covers, raising them on one side as an invitation for Garak to join him.

He slipped under the covers, keeping a few inches between him and his companion. The human had no such qualms. As soon as he had stopped moving, Julian hesitantly moved closer. Meeting no resistance, he plastered himself to the older Cardassian’s side. Garak stiffened but instinctively relaxed at the warmth of the embrace.

“Goodnight, my dear,” he breathed into the silence of the room, brushing hair from the doctor’s sleep-slack face. He smiled and gave himself up to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> a'yad - grandma
> 
> Thanks to Tinsnip and Vyc for their Cardassian language resources


End file.
